Listings on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange
In 2009, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange maintained its dominant position for the listing of international securities, compared to its main competitors.
However, in general, listing activity in 2009 experienced a significant slowdown as a result of the situation on the international capital markets since September 2008. This year was marked by a sharp decline in the admission of securities representing securitized assets or structured products. In contrast, bond issues from non-financial enterprises rose sharply. In this regard, the amount of capital raised and listed during 2009 increased by about 8.17% compared to 2008 to breach the symbolic barrier of EUR 1,000 billion (EUR 1,057.78 billion), while the number of new quotation lines was lower by almost 35% over the previous year.
During 2009, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange admitted to trading and its official list 7,738 new securities on both of its markets, with the following breakdown: 6,737 securities were admitted to trading on the “Bourse de Luxembourg” regulated market and 1,001 on the Euro MTF market. Securities newly admitted to trading were divided as follows: bonds (5,225 lines), investment funds (802), depositary receipts including GDRs (Global Depositary Receipts) (26) and warrants (1,683).
As at 31 December 2009, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange listed 45,660 quotation lines compared to 49,097 in 2008. The largest segments remained bonds with 30,805 lines and investment funds with 7,285 lines. Growth in the share segment was greatly assisted by listing activity for depositary receipts, an area of excellence of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange with a total of 232 quotation lines. By way of illustration, Tata Motors chose the Luxembourg Stock Exchange for its GDS (Global Depositary Shares) public offering, raising capital of about USD 375 million.
Several studies on IPO activity carried out by consultants have highlighted the expertise of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange in the field of international IPOs. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange figures in the top three European stock exchanges in terms of amount issued and in terms of number of new listings.
Market activity at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange
As at 31 December 2009, trading volume on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange had reached a total of EUR 272.05 million. The average daily volume stood at EUR 1.08 million. Equity trades accounted for at 79.15% of the volume, or EUR 215.34 million in absolute terms, while bonds accounted for 20.85% or EUR 56.71 million.
On 1 September 2009, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange adopted tick sizes that are harmonised at European level.
The LuxX index: up for the year
The LuxX closed the year at 1,371.47 points, up 39.82% compared to 2008. The highest level was reached on 30 December at 1,399.12 points, the lowest on 9 March 2009 at 804.38 points. This growth in the LuxX is part of a general upward trend for European stock exchanges, particularly over the last two quarters of the year.
Launch of Lux GDRs India and Lux GDRs Taiwan indices
On 1 October 2009, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange launched two new indices dedicated to GDRs (Global Depositary Receipts) named Lux GDRs India and Lux GDRs Taiwan.
The establishment of Lux GDRs India and Lux GDRs Taiwan reflects the importance of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange as a major listing centre for depositary receipts and in particular for GDRs.
Migration to the UTP platform (Universal Trading Platform) of NYSE Euronext
Since 9 March, 2009, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange has been using the NYSE Euronext trading platform called UTP (Universal Trading Platform) for all trading of all its securities on both markets.
The UTP platform is the shared trading platform used by the cash markets of NYSE Euronext. Its is based on a global network enabling access to the services and applications of NYSE Euronext. It relies on unified communication protocols, both for publics flows (market data) and private flows (order entry).
The migration to UTP is in line with the partnership agreement signed on 22 March 2007 between Euronext N.V. and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
OAM: new service of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange
On 1 January 2009, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange launched “OAM” (Officially Appointed Mechanism) services for issuers of securities that are traded on a regulated market and are within the competence of the Luxembourg supervisor, the CSSF.
This service allows these issuers to meet part of their obligation under the law of 11 January 2008 on transparency. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange has set up an infrastructure for the filing and archiving of the necessary information and data.
First revision of the Ten Principles of Corporate Governance
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange carried out the first review of its Ten Principles of Corporate Governance. The provisions of the revised version as approved by its board of directors entered into force on 1 October 2009.
Finesti
The subsidiary of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, formerly known as CCLux, changed its name in January 2009 to become Finesti. The name change was prompted by the expansion of the company's activities within a European framework, as evidenced by its participation in the European Fund Classification (EFC) initiative and the development of Fund Processing Passports.
A new website was also launched in line with the company’s new corporate identity. It is available at www.finesti.com.
2009 Stock Exchange Day and promotional activities
The Stock Exchange Day of 28 April 2009 was held at the Hemicycle conference centre and attracted some 700 guests drawn from Luxembourg’s economic, social and financial circles.
The guest speaker for this Stock Exchange Day was Klaus-Peter Müller, chairman of the supervisory board of Commerzbank AG, who gave a speech entitled “Towards a new world economic order – the role of security”..
In addition, in line with its role as an important institution of the Luxembourg financial community, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange took a major role in events, conferences and other activities organized throughout 2009 for the promotion of the financial sector.
In particular, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange participated in economic missions organized by the LuxembourforFinance agency in Central Europe and Asia. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange was represented in Singapore and Hong Kong, organising in the latter city a tripartite meeting between the Luxembourg Minister of Finance, Luc Frieden, and the heads of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange also participated, on 2 November 2009, in a conference held at the UN in New York entitled "Sustainable Stock Exchanges”. Following the inaugural message to participants by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, who emphasized the role of stock exchanges in the promotion of responsible investment principles, representatives of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange took part in a panel entitled "New Opportunities - ESG Indexes and Trading in ESG-Focused Investments" during which they focused on the initiatives taken in Luxembourg in the fields of responsible finance and microfinance.
On 2 December 2009, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange held a reception in Brussels at the end of the 2009 convention of FESE (Federation of European Securities Exchanges).
Nearly a hundred people took part in this event during which Mr. Jacques Santer, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg and former President of the European Commission delivered a speech on the theme: "Experiences and reflections on the creation, evolution and the future of the euro”.
Finally, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange attended a joint LuxembourgforFinance and Paris Europlace conference held on 8 December 2009 in Paris, on the theme: “The European financial centres post G20”. As part of this event, a roundtable discussion was devoted to European stock markets in the service of issuers in a post-MiFID environment. Representatives of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and NYSE Euronext presented their joint initiatives to develop the bond market. These initiatives consist of consultation and awareness with financial institutions specialised in the bond segment and the will to provide platforms to make the market more liquid and transparent.